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JERUSALEM — An Al-Jazeera journalist imprisoned by Israel was released under a plea bargain Monday, after he acknowledged having contact with the Islamic militant group Hamas, his attorney said.

According to the Israeli military verdict, Samer Allawi said he attended two meetings "in or near Qatar" in 2006 and 2010 with Al- Jazeera colleagues allegedly active in Hamas and later met senior Hamas member Osama Hamdan at a press conference.

The prosecutor alleged that on both occasions Allawi agreed to help strengthen public support for Hamas by reporting stories that would positively portray the Palestinians, but that he did not act on that due to "inability or unwillingness.".

Salim Wakim, the journalist's attorney, said his client was sentenced with "very, very, very trivial crimes."

His lawyer said Allawi refused the requests by Hamas. The military prosecutor also said that Allawi never carried out the requests, saying instead that he acted unethically.

The military prosecutor found Allawi guilty of making contact with and offering services to the Islamic militant group Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by Israel and several Western nations.

Allawi was released after paying a $1,400 fine, said Wakim.

Allawi, Al-Jazeera's bureau chief in Afghanistan, was arrested in August by Israeli soldiers when he was on his way back to Kabul after visiting family in the West Bank. He was held in an Israeli military prison for over a month.

Video footage on Al-Jazeera Arabic showed Allawi on Monday kissing his mother's hand and forehead repeatedly and hugging another woman upon his release. He was tearful.

Regardless of what transpires at the UN, it must become the impetus towards increased commitment on the part of the international community to fulfill the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people and the yearning of Israelis for peace and security.

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More than 35 reporters have been held in Iranian jails, without right of counsel or even being aware of the charges against them. Worse than Iran is the leftist darling Turkey, who has detained more than 60 recognized journalists, again without right of counsel or knowledge of pending charges. Turkey currently has a backlog of more than 1000 cases pending against journalists, army personnel, and anyone identified as a critic of Erdogan. The Israeli detainee, of "Palestinian" background, by his own admission, said he was recruited to Hamas in 1993 and he served there until 2004 in a senior committee that oversees Hamas operations abroad and is responsible for fundraising. Samer Allawi also said he attended a meeting in 2000 in Saudi Arabia in which he said he would be part of a terror operation on behalf of Hamas. He also offered to use his position as a reporter to promote Hamas interests. Despite these most felonious of actions and intents, Allawi was protected under Israeli law, had the right to counsel, the ability to address his case to a recognized legal entity, mediate a compromise, and secure his release. Is that not how a proper democracy adjudicates its laws? The story should act as another example of the integrity of the Israeli system, but rather HuffPo chooses to shed light on this particular case in hopes of furthering the leftist’s morally inverse narrative of Israel as some kind of rouge state.

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"The Israeli detainee, of "Palestini­an" background­, by his own admission...." There's your problem, Bar - you seem to think that it is a mark of shame for anyone to admit that they are Palestinian. I would ask you to leave behind the rhetoric and vitriol of hate and join those who wish for a more peaceful and equitable future for the peoples of Israel and Palestine.

SpoonieLuv: "The Israeli detainee, of "PalestiniÂ­an" backgroundÂ­, by his own admission...."

"The Israeli detainee, of "Palestini­an" background­, by his own admission, said he was recruited to Hamas in 1993 and he served there until 2004 in a senior committee that oversees Hamas operations abroad and is responsibl­e for fundraisin­g"

In other words, the admission he made was that he was a Hamas operative, not that he was a palestinian!! You owe him an apology.

Json: You are extremely dishonest or have poor reading comprehension!! "The

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Ridiculous. He never should have been detained in the first place. Something is very wrong with this most current Israeli regime. Very wrong indeed. They are beginning to remind me of the bullies over in Iran.

Each1Teach1: Ridiculous. He never should have been detained in the first

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Since I know that plenty of lunatics are simply going to see the station's name and immediately decide to write a bunch of negative things without even reading the article, let me correct them in advance:

Al Jazeera has had the most in-depth and analytical reporting of events in the Middle East, and often of events around the world. They recently had an article about the health effects arising from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In other words, it got to be the well respected media source that it is by being the OPPOSITE of Fox News.

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Interestingly, the Al Jazeera article is a little different: Allawi - bureau chief of Al Jazeera in Kabul - was charged with being a member of Hamas and, though the Israelis said they would hold him for four days, they held him and questioned him for 50 days.